Local man co-author of book on UConn hoops

Local man co-author of book on UConn hoops

   More than three decades ago, New Milford product Bob Porter was a student station play-by-play announcer for UConn men’s basketball games.

   Today, after following a successful non-sports-related career for many years, Mr. Porter is the co-author of a book on his beloved Huskies.

   Mr. Porter, a graduate of New Milford High School and UConn, teamed up with an old friend and colleague to create a book covering 50 years of memorable moments (1954-2004) in UConn men’s basketball history.

   The book’s title is “Hoop Tales: UConn Huskies Men’s Basketball.” It was published by Globe Pequot Press in Guilford.

   Mr. Porter, who lives in New Milford, says his passion for UConn hoops goes back to his undergraduate days at UConn when he was the student station play-by-play announcer of games for four seasons in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

   He got into serious sportswriting a couple of years ago as a periodic columnist for The Greater New Milford Spectrum on UConn sports.

   Bob’s co-author is WTIC UConn color commentator Wayne Norman, who has broadcast over 1,000 UConn games in the past 25 years.

   The two men each have more than four decades of UConn men’s basketball knowledge, and they interviewed 45 people who have been connected with UConn hoops during the past 50 seasons.

   “It was a great treat to put this book together with Wayne,” Mr. Porter said this week.

   “Of course we cover all the recent thrills, including the two men’s national championships,” he explained, “but perhaps the most fun was talking to those who made UConn basketball a regional power from the mid-1950s until Jim Calhoun’s arrival [as coach] in 1986.”

   Mr. Porter related that his writing experience with The Spectrum helped him and Mr. Norman in their quest to create the UConn basketball book.

   “My writing here in New Milford for The Spectrum was a major factor in Globe Pequot Press choosing Wayne and myself to do their first-ever book on a basketball team, after many successful books on major football teams,” Mr. Porter said.

   “We feel it is a reader-friendly book with many photos and interesting sidebars connected to the 11 self-contained stories,” he added.

   “Hoop Tales” is now available in area bookstores or can be ordered on-line through Amazon.com using the search words “hoop tales.”

   Mr. Porter said he has already signed many books and noted that he will gladly sign a copy for any area resident.